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Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films and Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 May 2024 | Viewed by 8020

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hui Sun

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Guest Editor

School of Space Science and Physics, Shandong University, Weihai, China
Interests: thin films deposition; transparent conductive films; optoelectronic devices; photocatalyst

Dr. Jing Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: intelligent fluid transport; surface technology; friction and lubrication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional thin films have been widely used in the fields of micro- and nanoelectronics, optical communication, biological systems, and mechanical equipment in devices such as thin-film transistors, planar waveguides, solar elements, LEDs, gas sensors, and mechanical components. The synthesis of these thin films and the acquisition of information about their optical, electronic, mechanical, and tribological properties, as well as their wettability, are very important for the development of new stable devices based on them.

Studying the factors involved in the properties of thin films allows for the determination of many interesting properties of these nanomaterials, which can be made of inorganic, organic, metal, dielectric, or hybrid materials. This is significant given the wide range of practical applications that are implicated. This Special Issue of Materials will include original research articles and review papers written by researchers on the topic of Optical, Electrical, and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films. Investigations into other performance parameters of thin films are also welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Hui Sun
Dr. Jing Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

thin films
coating
deposition process
electrical properties
optical properties
tribology
lubrication
superhydrophobic
wettability
functional materials, thin films and devices

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 5022 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of the Coordinated Ligand on the Optical and Electrical Properties in Titanium Phthalocyanine-Based Active Films for Photovoltaics

by María Elena Sánchez Vergara, Luisa Fernanda Villanueva Heredia and Leon Hamui

Materials 2023, 16(2), 551; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16020551 - 06 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1450

Abstract

Tetravalent titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) and titanium phthalocyanine dichloride (TiCl₂Pc) films were deposited via the high-vacuum thermal evaporation technique and subsequently structurally and morphologically characterized, to be later evaluated in terms of their optoelectronic behavior. The IR and UV-vis spectroscopy of the films displayed α- and β-phase signals in TiOPc and TiCl₂Pc. Additionally, the UV-vis spectra displayed the B and Q bands in the near-UV region of 270–390 nm and in the visible region between 600 and 880 nm, respectively. The films presented the onset gap (~1.30 eV) and the optical gap (~2.85 eV). Photoluminescence emission bands at 400–600 nm and 800–950 nm are present for the films. One-layer ITO/TiCl₂Pc or TiOPc/Ag and two-layer ITO/PEDOT:PSS/TiCl₂Pc or TiOPc/Ag planar heterojunction devices with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) deposited by the spin-coating technique were constructed. In these devices, an electrical activation energy between 0.18 and 0.21 eV and a refractive index between 1.14 and 1.44 were obtained. The devices presented a change in the J–V curves for the illuminated and darkness conditions, as much as 1.5 × 10² A/cm², related to the device architecture and phthalocyanine ligand. The latter indicates that the films should be used for optoelectronic applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films)

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18 pages, 12509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tribological Properties of WS₂ Thin Films Containing Graphite-like Carbon and Ni Interlayers

by Roman I. Romanov, Dmitry V. Fominski, Maxim V. Demin, Mariya D. Gritskevich, Natalia V. Doroshina, Valentyn S. Volkov and Vyacheslav Yu. Fominski

Materials 2023, 16(1), 282; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16010282 - 28 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1477

Abstract

The development and production of thin-film coatings having very low friction is an urgent problem of materials science. One of the most promising solutions is the fabrication of special nanocomposites containing transition-metal dichalcogenides and various carbon-based nanophases. This study aims to explore the influence of graphite-like carbon (g-C) and Ni interface layers on the tribological properties of thin WS₂ films. Nanocrystalline WS₂ films were created by reactive pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in H₂S at 500 °C. Between the two WS₂ nanolayers, g-C and Ni nanofilms were fabricated by PLD at 700 and 22 °C, respectively. Tribotesting was carried out in a nitrogen-enriched atmosphere by the reciprocal sliding of a steel counterbody under a relatively low load of 1 N. For single-layer WS₂ films, the friction coefficient was ~0.04. The application of g-C films did not noticeably improve the tribological properties of WS₂-based films. However, the application of thin films of g-C and Ni reduced the friction coefficient to 0.013, thus, approaching superlubricity. The island morphology of the Ni nanofilm ensured WS₂ retention and altered the contact area between the counterbody and the film surface. The catalytic properties of nickel facilitated the introduction of S and H atoms into g-C. The sliding of WS₂ nanoplates against an amorphous g-C(S, H) nanolayer caused a lower coefficient of friction than the relative sliding of WS₂ nanoplates. The detected behavior of the prepared thin films suggests a new strategy of designing antifriction coatings for practical applications and highlights the ample opportunities of laser techniques in the formation of promising thin-film coatings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films)

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Review

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14 pages, 1966 KiB

Open AccessReview

Surface Protection Technology for Metallic Materials in Marine Environments

by Jing Xu, Hao Lu, Linxuan Cai, Yihong Liao and Jiadi Lian

Materials 2023, 16(20), 6822; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16206822 - 23 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1069

Abstract

As the demand for the development and utilization of marine resources continues to strengthen, the service requirements for advanced marine equipment are rapidly increasing. Surface protection technology has become an important way of solving the tribological problems of extreme operating conditions and improving the safety performance of equipment by imparting certain special properties to the surface of the material through physical, chemical or mechanical processes to enhance the ability of the material to withstand external environmental factors. Combined with the extremely complex characteristics of the marine environment, this paper describes the commonly used surface protection technologies for metal materials in the marine environment. Research on surface texture was summarized under different surface reshaping technologies, as well as processes and coating materials under different surface modification technologies. Combined with the existing research progress and development trends of marine metallic materials, the surfaces of metal materials under the marine environment protection technology foreground are prospected and provide a reference for the improvement of equipment performance in extreme marine environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films)

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24 pages, 3102 KiB

Open AccessReview

Research Progress of p-Type Oxide Thin-Film Transistors

by Zhuping Ouyang, Wanxia Wang, Mingjiang Dai, Baicheng Zhang, Jianhong Gong, Mingchen Li, Lihao Qin and Hui Sun

Materials 2022, 15(14), 4781; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15144781 - 08 Jul 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3167

Abstract

The development of transparent electronics has advanced metal–oxide–semiconductor Thin-Film transistor (TFT) technology. In the field of flat-panel displays, as basic units, TFTs play an important role in achieving high speed, brightness, and screen contrast ratio to display information by controlling liquid crystal pixel dots. Oxide TFTs have gradually replaced silicon-based TFTs owing to their field-effect mobility, stability, and responsiveness. In the market, n-type oxide TFTs have been widely used, and their preparation methods have been gradually refined; however, p-Type oxide TFTs with the same properties are difficult to obtain. Fabricating p-Type oxide TFTs with the same performance as n-type oxide TFTs can ensure more energy-efficient complementary electronics and better transparent display applications. This paper summarizes the basic understanding of the structure and performance of the p-Type oxide TFTs, expounding the research progress and challenges of oxide transistors. The microstructures of the three types of p-Type oxides and significant efforts to improve the performance of oxide TFTs are highlighted. Finally, the latest progress and prospects of oxide TFTs based on p-Type oxide semiconductors and other p-Type semiconductor electronic devices are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films)

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